Ethnic Communities Development Forum (ECDF) is an alliance of ethnic community development organisations working in conflict-affected areas of Myanmari.e. Rakhine state, Kayin state, Kayah state, Kachin state, Chin state, Shan state, and Mon state. Its seven member organizations have facilitated over 500 community development projects in the ethnic states since 1995 and provide continuous capacity building support to the democratically elected community project committees. Thus, ECDF promotes strong community leadership, inter-ethnic cooperation and local solutions through capacity building, awareness raising on relevant national issues, grass-roots initiatives and ownership, community participation and sustainability.

ECDF was formally established in 2004 and has its secretariat in Chiang Mai, Thailand. ECDF has four major programmes: 1) Community empowerment and training on specialized issues, such as land rights and laws, 2) Research, documentation and advocacy on prioritized issues affecting rural ethnic communities, such as land and resource rights, agriculture and sustainable development, 3) Policy development on land rights, including customary land management systems and small-scale agriculture, and 4) Networking (including national and regional organizations).